Capital One slips after Costco enters co-brand card pact with Visa, CitiShares of Capital One (COF) are slipping in pre-market trading after Costco Wholesale (COST) announced it has entered into a new co-brand credit card program agreement with Citi (C) and an acceptance and co-brand incentive agreement with Visa (V). The Fly notes that on February 12 American Express (AXP) announced that its U.S. co-brand and merchant acceptance agreements with Costco are set to end on March 31, 2016. On October 1 of last year, MasterCard Canada (MA) entered into an agreement with Costco Canada to open credit card acceptance to MasterCard cardholders. In addition, Capital One rolled out a new cobranded MasterCard credit card with Costco Canada at that time, which may have led some to speculate that Capital One and MasterCard could have the inside track for a U.S. deal with Costco. In pre-market trading, Capital One shares slid 0.56% to $78.27 and MasterCard shares slipped fractionally lower to $90.

Costco enters long-term co-brand credit card agreement with Citi, Visa Costco Wholesale (COST) announced it has entered into a new co-brand credit card program agreement with Citi (C) and an acceptance and co-brand incentive agreement with Visa (V). The implementation of these agreements is subject to the purchase of the existing co-brand credit card portfolio by Citi. Under the terms of the agreements, Citi, the world's largest issuer of consumer credit cards, would become the exclusive issuer of Costco's co-brand credit cards and Visa will replace American Express as the credit card network for Costco in the United States and Puerto Rico beginning April 1, 2016. Once issued, Costco's co-brand Visa credit card would provide generous rewards to Costco members, serve as the Costco membership card, and would be accepted at Costco locations in the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as all merchants worldwide that accept Visa credit cards. Costco will provide its members with additional information in the coming months regarding the anticipated transition from its existing co-brand credit card program.

Visa to support consumer payments with Samsung PayVisa (V) announced it is supporting consumer payments with the new Samsung (SSNLF) Galaxy S6. Eligible consumers in the U.S. will be able to make secure Visa payments with Samsung Pay, Samsung’s new payment service scheduled to launch this summer.

American Express plans to appeal antitrust ruling, CNBC reportsAmerican Express stated to CNBC that the company is "disappointed" with a court decision in an antitrust matter and plans to file an appeal. "The court's ruling will not provide any benefit to consumers and will, in fact, harm competition by further entrenching the two dominant networks. We continue to believe that the Department of Justice's arguments are flawed and believe we should prevail on appeal," American Express stated. Reference Link

Visa to extend Visa Checkout service, totaling 16 markets by late 2015Visa announced that Visa Checkout will become available in a total of 16 markets in 2015. Currently, consumers from 10 countries can sign up for Visa Checkout. By the end of 2015 Visa Checkout will be available in the following 16 markets: U.S., Australia, and Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Peru, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and United Arab Emirates. Consumers in newly-enabled markets will first be able to use Visa Checkout to buy from merchants in the U.S., Australia and Canada that accept Visa Checkout and ship internationally. As the rollout continues, select markets will begin to incorporate issuer, merchant, acquirer, and channel partnerships to support local commerce with Visa Checkout. Visa will also launch localized Visa Checkout websites for many of these markets.